The epidemic of online child sexual crimes

by Adam West | More from this Blogger

08 Apr 2006 01:00 PM

The issue of keeping children safe from online child predators has steadily increased over the past few years. From newspapers (e.g., New York Times) to news journal shows (e.g., Dateline NBC) to popular daytime shows (e.g., Oprah), the topic has been discussed. I am amazed, however, at the number of parents, teachers, and adults who still think that the epidemic of online predators is not really an important issue. Yes, that's right. I call it an epidemic. Thousands of children each year worldwide are solicited and even abducted as a result of participating in unmonitored online activities. It's time for parents, teachers, and adults to realize that thoughts such as, "It will never happen to my child" or "I don't have any children, so why should I bother," are outdated. Now is the time to become hyper-aware of situations involving children and the Internet. Whether you have children in your home, you too can be involved in warning others about and protecting children from online predators.

A few statistics

One of the most cited statistics is that 1 in 5 children (ages 10 to 17) who use the Internet are solicited with sexual material online. Less often talked about is that of those being solicited, only 1 in 4 actually tells a parent or guardian. Most parents or guardians who choose to report the incident (not very many do), tend to report the incident to their Internet service providers (ISPs), rather than a law enforcement or child protection agency. While ISPs may be required by law to report incidents of child sexual exploitation, the lag time between hearing about an incident and actually reporting it can sometimes be months. Thus, we must educate others about how and where to report sexual crimes involving children.

The CyberTipline is a resource for parents and adults to report incidents of child sexual exploitation. You can read a brief introduction of the CyberTipline in my next blog. From a report issued in July 2005, here are a few of their statistics of weekly reports:

● Almost 1,600 incidents of child pornography reported weekly (not just online child pornography) ● 50 incidents of online enticement of children for sexual acts reported weekly ● 5 incidents of child prostitution reported weekly (that's an average of 260 a year!)

As a reminder for some and an eye opener for others, national statistics show that before the age of 18, 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be sexually exploited by an adult. One avenue that leads to child sexual exploitation is unmonitored use of the Internet.

Families.com is involved

Over the past few months, writers for Families.com have been raising awareness about sexual crimes involving children and how to keep our children safe. In the Computers and Internet blog, I have written about the dangers of the Internet and online child predators. Teresa McEntire has written about the dangers of child molestation and how to teach children about child molesters in the Parenting blog. Also in the Parenting blog, Nicki Bradley has written about "The case for parental snooping." In the Safety blog, Nicole Allard has given some great tips about keeping our children safe while using the Internet. Families.com writers will continue to talk about keeping our children safe from sexual predators. Check back regularly for new articles about tips for teaching other adults and your children how to avoid some of the pitfalls that lead to sexual crimes involving children. Please tell your friends and family members about these articles and the resources contained within them. The only way to raise awareness in others is to keep talking about the issues.

Learn more about Adam West

Adam is avid computer and electronics hobbyist. He and his young family call central Texas home. His love of the application of multimedia and electronics has lead him to Families.

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Nicole Humphrey (15757) 08 Apr 2006 11:35 PM

Adam, excellent article. I loved reading it and it was great information. You rock.

Adam West (382) 09 Apr 2006 09:40 PM

Nicole, thank you for your comments. This information is so important that we must continue to raise awareness in others.

smoot (5) 08 May 2006 03:25 AM

I agree that raising awareness is paramount. However, I'm worried that hysteria is counterproductive.

If you're like me you saw the "1 in 5 children are sexually solicited online" billboard and freaked. But is this an accurate representation of the world we live in?

The study states that 1 in 33 children who were online (only 24% of all children have computers at home, which if my math is right, drops the statistic to 1 out of 143 children) is asked to meet in person for sex, or was called or sent money/gifts.

Agreed, this is an epidemic. But let's not teach ourselves and our kids to live in fear.

mcmama (51978) 10 Jun 2006 05:58 PM

This is an excellent article. With the summer months here, we have had a number of children and teens joining us and looking in on our discussions. I have cautioned a few to please be careful about giving any personal information about themselves in our forums or with private messages.

We are a safe community of caring people, mostly parents, but we are also a public forum. I strongly encourage parents to keep an eyeview on what their children and teens are doing online, and advise young people to not share your e mail or other personal information in posts. You really never know who is watching - and predators lurk on forums and public sites looking for people to exploit. We're not immune. Let's be careful, please.